Researchers Find that Prayer is Beneficial Even on a Scientific Level

Aimee Herd : Dec 3, 2013
Daily Mail, Newsmax

According to study findings, prayer boosts your resistance to temptation and believing in God helps to treat depression.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Of course, from a Believer's point of view, the benefits of prayer go way beyond the results of this research—to be in the presence of and communicate with the One who created the entire universe, and each one of us; to experience His immense love firsthand… well, what could even come close? Still, I appreciate this group of researchers being willing to explore the scientific aspects of faith. -Aimee Herd, BCN.

(Germany)—An interesting study was recently done by German psychologists at Saarland University and the University of Mannheim, on the effects of prayer on those who pray.

According to a Daily Mail report, some of the findings revealed that praying can help a person maintain self-control and resist temptation, as well as help alleviate depression and other benefits.

In the study—published online in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology—the authors noted that "a brief period of personal prayer buggered the self-control depletion effect…these results are consistent with and contribute to a growing body of work attesting to the beneficial effects of praying on self-control."

The 79 participants—41-Christian; 14-atheist; 10-agnostic and 14 of other religions—were given tests designed to measure their level of self-control when faced with temptation.

The researchers found that those participants who prayed before the start of the test showed they maintained high levels self-control to the end.

In another study, the effect of a belief in God in relation to treatment for depression was researched.

The results showed that those patients who had no, or only a slight belief in God were "twice as likely not to respond to treatment" than the patients who claimed to have a higher level of belief in God.